Wifi USB dongle not working with Pi MusicBox

Pi MusicBox
1

Pi MusicBox version: musicbox_v0.7.0RC4

Works fine with wired Ethernet.

But very intermittent with Wifi dongle type “Tinxi” 150M Raspberry Pi USB WiFi Wireless LAN IEEE 802.11 N / G / B Adapter WiFi Network Dongle - Chipset: REALTEK RTL8188CUS.

It is very frustrating - reading this and other forums wifi problems seem to be widespread, but there seem to be no simple solutions or explanations. The problem is the same with different Raspberry Pis, different wifi Dongles, different power supplies, and a clean new install of PI MusicBox. Wifi Signal is strong - I have tested in the same room as the router. My Wifi works fine for streaming video and music using other devices, I only have problems with Pi MusicBox, although perhaps the problem is in the Raspberry Pi rather than Pi MusicBox?

Pi MusicBox is great when working over ethernet, but would be much more useful to me if it would work over WiFi.

Also - am using an IQaudIO Pi-DAC+ again: everything works fine over ethernet. Do some system settings need to be changed for using Wifi togther with the IQaudIO Pi-DAC+? Perhaps due to power requirements? I am using a 2A power supply.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thank you for Pi MusicBox by the way!

2

PROBLEM FIXED

Answering my own question - The Wifi Dongle was the problem.

I have changed to an: Edimax EW-7811Un N150 Wireless USB Adapter and it works fine, all the time.

3

Sorry I forgot to reply, thanks for updating this issue. There are no end of terrible wifi dongles out there.

4

The “Tinxi” is widely sold, and has plenty of positive reviews on places like Amazon, but obviously they are not very good or at least compatible. I hope this may help others with a similar problem - but with the new raspberry Pi’s I guess it won’t be a problem :slight_smile:

5

I went to a Edimax EW-7722UTn from a Edimax EW-7811Un and it cleared up the issues I was having with Snapcast. Most of my Snapclients are original Pi B’s and single core. I read that USB is really processor intensive. Between the higher bandwidth and better antennae, the new dongles cleared up a very frustrating issue.

The built in WiFi on the Pi3 has been good to me, BTW.

6

Yes, I haven’t got a Pi3 yet, looking forward to it :slight_smile: In the meantime I have several older Pis and wifi has always been an issue, perhaps now solved.